<?php vs <? …Does it matter? [duplicate]

Answer 1

the closing bracket is not compulsory

Answer 2

If your project is likely to be deployed on different servers (open source software, for example) it is best to always use <?php

However, if you're like me, and always strive for maximum portability, use <?php even if you don't believe your software will ever leave your server. Most servers have short tags enabled.

However, if they have short tags disabled, and you use them, your PHP will be exposed to the world (if under the document root).

Answer 3

<? ?>

are short tags, if short tags are off it won't work.

Answer 4

No difference it's just a matter of preference I think, plus why should it matter? it's just another 3 bytes.

Edit:

Forgot to say that you have to enable short hand in php.ini

Answer 5

It does, if anyone ever uses your code on a server where short tags are disabled. I work with several servers where they are. Other than that though, no. Using the short version makes your script less portable though for the above mentioned reason. This may or may not be an issue for you.

This is another issue entirely, but related. If you are trying to generate certain types of files from PHP (XML is the candidate that comes up most often for me) then having short tags can be an issue. For instance, the following causes a PHP syntax error:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>

You must instead write the following on a server that has short tags enabled:

<?php echo '<?xml version "1.0" ?>'; ?>

Gah!

Answer 6

On some systems, the default option for the short_open_tags is off, so the latter doesn't work, while the former does, so it can completely break your website if you use the second. Personally, I just like to override the setting and use the second.